The Phantom of Hogwarts
by trust-the-system
Summary: Hermione has come back to finish her schooling at Hogwarts, and she has the lead in the musical. But there are whispers of the ghost of a Death Eater who perished in the War, haunting the grounds. She doesn't believe it...until she meets him.
1. Chapter 1

Hermione Granger had regretfully stayed back and gone to finish her schooling at Hogwarts as Head Girl the year after the second Great Wizarding War, without Ron or Harry. She worried about them all the time, and because they weren't there she had a lot of time to do that. Ginny and Luna were always busy, and Neville had graduated. She didn't have any real close friends besides them.

On the brighter side of things, she had a whole bedroom and bathroom to herself. Total privacy. She had finally made it to the top. There was no one there to bug her this year, either. After what had happened in the Astronomy Tower, Draco Malfoy had been killed by You-Know-Who for being unsuccessful in completing a task. Though she felt bad that Draco had been killed for not killing Dumbledore, it was nice to not have him making fun of her all the time.

Even though Hogwarts had been restored to its glory, Hermione didn't feel same walking down it's halls. It didn't seem as cheerful, and all of her classes seemed harder and her life more stressful. Maybe it was from being so alone all the time, maybe it was from the work, she didn't know. She just wished she had her two best friends back.

There was one stress reliever so Hermione wouldn't go mad: The seasonal musicals. Hermione had gained a passion for dancing in them. She was excellent, no doubt; possibly the best dancer in there. Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood had done the same. This gave them some time to talk and be together, which to Hermione was much better than being alone.

Somehow, a rotten girl a year younger than Hermione, named Carla Butterbaum, had gotten the leading role, and always bragged about it to everyone. No one knew why she was chosen; because if her notes weren't flat they were sharp, her voice was always shrill even when she talked, and she couldn't act for her life.

"This trophy from our saviors, from our saviors from the enslaving force of Rome!" Carla attempted to sing

"With feasting and dancing and song, tonight in celebration, we greet the victorious throng, returned to bring salvation!" the girl's chorus sang

"The trumpets of Carthage resound! Hear, Romans, now and tremble! Hark to our step on the ground!" The boys sang their part

"Hear the drums, Hannibal comes!" They sang in unison  
>"Sad to return to find the land we love threatened once more by Roma's far-reaching grasp!" A boy, Hermione had been told his name was Xavier Piangi, used his chest voice<p>

"Bid welcome to Hannibal's guests, the elephants of Carthage! As guides on our conquering quests, Dido sends Hannibal's friends!" The chorus, including Carla and Xavier sang, and then, thank the heavens, Carla and Xavier stopped. "The trumpeting elephants sound, hear, Romans, now and tremble! Hark to their step on the ground, hear the drums! Hannibal comes!"

As soon as the song ended, Carla went into a full-out hissy fit about her costume and her hat, and started to cry. The dancers took a break to stretch and relax while Carla had a temper tantrum. They happened often, and lasted for a good hour.

"You know," Hermione leaned over to touch her toes when she was sitting in a circle with Ginny and Luna "It's times like these when I sometimes regret auditioning for the ballet."

"I regret it whenever Carla opens her big fat mouth." Ginny re-laced one of her flats "Luna, am I right to say that you got a letter from Neville yesterday and you didn't tell us?"

"Well, you didn't ask." Luna twirled a long, bright strand of hair in her fingers

"Well, we are now!" Hermione leaned in with delight, demanding to hear everything Neville wrote

"Everyone, everyone!" Professor Flitwick tapped his stick against his music stand. "Now, now, now. We are going to practice the aria from Act Three! Resume your places!"

A very nice and smooth measure of music started to play, but was ruined by Carla singing "Think of me, think of me fondly when we've said goOOOOodbye." A chill went down Hermione's spine "Remember me once in a while please promise me yoOOOOOu'll try. When you find that, once again, you long to take your heart back and be free-"

Suddenly, one of the set backgrounds rolled down and on top of Carla, making her cry in pain as she got pinned to the floor. She banged on it, yelling "Ah, ah, ah!" Everyone in the Great Hall screamed and started to pull the set off of her. Once successful, she was taken to the hospital wing, yelling "I'm done with this! You'll never see my face here again!"

"It's him…" Luna stared hypnotically at the nothingness

"Who, Luna?" Hermione asked

"The ghost."

"Luna, there are an awful lot of ghosts at Hogwarts, and I doubt that one of them did that. Besides, we would have seen them!" Ginny added

"Not this one." Luna shook her head "He is a new ghost, one from the war. He wanders the grounds at night, sometimes you can see him during the day. He seems to be mischievous and malicious, but not in the way that Peeves is. His intents are harmful."

"Luna, where did you learn this?" Hermione asked concerned

"Oh, I've seen him. Some others have, as well. Whispers, mostly."

"Well, what does he look like?" Ginny interrogated

"He looks like a Death Eater that perished in the War. He still wears his mask. Some say he still possesses a wand."

"I don't mean to insult you Luna, but that sounds like a load of rubbish to me." Ginny put her hands on her hips.

"What am I going to do now, Minerva?" Flitwick waddled over to the professor who overlooked each rehearsal. "We've lost our star!"

"Hermione Granger?" McGonagall's voice sounded exactly the same as when she had called out Hermione to get sorted on her first day of school at Hogwarts.

"Yes Professor?" Hermione whipped around

"You've never failed me before, and your voice sounds very delightful. Would you please help me in replacing Carla?"

"Well…I've never sang before…and the performance is in a week. I'd need to learn all the pitches and the lyrics and the lines…"

"Granger, I've heard you singing when I've passed your dormitory. Please, as a favor." She gestured her to the center of the 'stage'. "A little closer, if you please."

Hermione cautiously approached the center, not liking all the eyes and attention on her. She knew that she would mess up terribly and look like a fool, but before she knew it Flitwick had tapped his staff and the music started.

"_Think of me, think of me fondly, when we've said goodbye.__Remember me once in a while please promise me you'll try. When you find that, once again, you long to take your heart back and be free if you ever find a moment, spare a thought for me."_ A week had passed before Hermione's eyes, and there she was in front of all of her friends and classmates, singing. _"We never said our love was evergreen or as unchanging as the sea but if you can still remember__stop and think of me. Think of all the things__we've shared and seen don't think about the way things might have been. Think of me, think of me waking, silent and resigned. Imagine me, trying too hard to put you from my mind. Recall those days look back on all those times, think of the things we'll never do there will never be a day, when I won't think of you. Flowers fade, the fruits of summer fade, and they have their seasons, so do we but please promise me, that sometimes you will think of me!"_ The crowd exploded in cheers and whistles and claps for her, making her smile uncontrollably.

Hermione found herself splashing water on her face in the girl's lavatory on the second floor. She had taken out all of the pins and the beautiful jewels from her hair and ears and laid them on the sinks.

"Ooohawhhhh!" Myrtle flew out from her favorite toilet "Well if it isn't Hermione Granger? The head girl of Gryffindor house, and the savior of the wizarding world? Let's not forget the new star of the school?"

"Myrtle, you don't have to say it like that." She looked at her through the mirror

"Well, it's true, isn't it? You're the star now! In all honesty," Myrtle took her strange tone, that sounded weirdly flirtatious "I must thank you for defending our school. If my bathroom had been destroyed, who knows where I would have been?"

"Oh, well, you're welcome Myrtle." She smiled at the new compliment "Myrtle, how many other ghosts do you know about?"

"Well, there's the house ghosts, and the ones who for no real reason pass through here. Why?"

"There are rumors floating around that there is a ghost of a death eater haunting the school now. Are they true, Myrtle?"

Myrtle, even in her ghostly body, turned a shade pale "I've seen a hooded figure, walking through here. Once, maybe twice. Only at night, when it's too dark for me to see and I'm trying to sleep. I don't know why he's in here, but that's all I know. That and when some of the girls come in here to-well-you know, they talked about it once."

"Thank you, Myrtle. I hope you have a good, uninterrupted night." She nodded towards the ghost

_**Brava! Brava! Bravissima! **_

"Hermione? Hermione?"

_**Hermione…a whisper of a melody came from the walls**_

"Where in the world have you been hiding?" Ginny stepped into the bathroom cautiously. She still felt uneasy about the bathroom after her first year and the diary. "You'll never guess who is in your room!"

"Who?"

"You'll just have to go up there to find out!" Ginny playfully dragged Hermione out and up the stairs to her room.

Hermione excitedly turned the knob, not knowing what to expect, and saw nothing. Her smile faded like snow melting on a window. She looked around frantically but found nothing and no-one. "Ginny, there's no one-" she turned around to complain to Ginny but found only Ron and Harry smiling back at her. "Ah!" She shrieked, throwing her arms around her best friends. "It's so-" she kissed Harry on both cheeks "-good-" she kissed Ron's left cheek "-to-" she kissed his other cheek "-see you!" She kissed him long on his lips, a taste she had long missed and ached for. She had missed that terribly.

"It's great to see you too, darling." Ron returned the favor and kissed her back, toying with her by calling her darling, a name he knew she didn't like to be called.

"Ahem…" Harry cut in, signaling that they had been kissing too long.

Ron pulled back and wiped his lips clean of lipstick on his sleeve. "Sorry, mate."

"You were AMAZING up there, Hermione!" Harry raved

"Brilliant, is more like it! I didn't even know you sang or acted!" Ron exclaimed

"Neither did I, until Clara Butterbaum had a fit and pulled out of the show. McGonagall made me do it."

"You must do it again, Hermione. You truly were astonishing. Everyone is talking about you!" Harry said

"It's wonderful to see all of you again, but I'm very tired, and I imagine that Ginny really wants to see her boyfriend and her brother?"

"Good point." Ron nodded "Well, I'll send you an owl soon, okay?" He leaned over to kiss her again

"Promise?"

"We promise." Harry kissed her on the cheek

"Don't let me down!" Hermione warned before they closed the door behind them.

Hermione took a quick shower and then slipped into her white satin nightgown. She tucked herself into bed and tried her best to sleep, but still couldn't stop thinking about Ron. She wished that he were still there, sleeping beside her. Ron and Hermione hadn't gotten _that_ serious yet, but she liked knowing that he was around her. Right as she closed her eyes and was about to settle down, her eyes popped out as she remembered she left all of her jewelry and accessories in the girl's lavatory.

She knew it was a risk putting on her robe and slithering down the stairs to the bathroom after hours, being head girl and a role model, but those pieces were too important to lose or have stolen. The bathroom at night was unbearably eerie, with not even Myrtle to make her feel a little less uneasy. She must have floated into her toilet or another bathroom to scare someone. There was only one, wide but short window on the very top of the fourth wall, opposite the sinks, serving as the only light. As she grabbed for the accessories and started to run out of the bathroom, the door shut and locked itself.

Hermione felt the hair on the back of her neck rise and her heart rate beat faster than a drum. She dare not turn around to see the cause of any of this, but the room had suddenly become ten degrees colder, and the atmosphere more terrifying. Finally mustering up the courage, she asked "Who's there?" Without turning away from the door

"Look behind you…" the same melodic voice came from earlier that night

Something was hypnotizing her, like she was being controlled by the Imperius curse. She turned around slowly and saw that the sinks had opened to show her the way to the Chamber of Secrets. When Hermione had gone down with Ron, he told her to be very careful, and if she walked ever so slowly and gently, she wouldn't fall and slip down the corridor like it was a slide. When she entered the corridor, she saw a hooded figure hold out his hand to her. She reached out to take the gloved hand, hesitated, and finally took it.

_In sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came. That voice which calls to me and speaks my name. And do I dream again for now I find; The Phantom of the Opera is there, inside my mind._

"Sing once again with me, our strange duet!" the ghost sang to her "My power over you grows stronger yet. And though you turn from me to glance behind, The Phantom of the Opera is there; inside your mind."

_Those who have seen your face__, d__raw back in fear. I am the mask you wear.__  
><em>  
>"It's me they hear..."<p>

Your spirit and your voice in one combined! _My spirit and my voice in one combined!_  
><em>The Phantom of the Opera is there, inside my mind! <em>The Phantom of the Opera is there, inside your mind!

In all your fantasies, you always knew  
>that man and mystery . . .<p>

_. . . were both in you . ._.

"And in this labyrinth, where night is blind, the Phantom of the Opera is there inside your mind. . ."

_And in this labyrinth,__where__ night is blind, the Phantom of the Opera__is here inside my mind. . ._

"Sing, my Angel of Music!"

Even with the mask muffling and disguising his voice, he sounded like an angel of the night. His voice floated and wrapped around her, like wind taking a leaf. Something told her that she must do what he said, so she tried to sing for him. "Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, aah!" _He's there,__the Phantom of the Opera . . ._

"Sing, my angel!"

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, aah!" Hermione went a note higher

"Sing for me!"

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, aah!" Hermione did another note

"Sing, my Angel of music!"

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, aah!"  
>"Sing for me!"<p>

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, aah!" Hermione had gone up a whole octave.

She knew now that this ghost was not a ghost at all, but she didn't know what he was. All that she knew was that after that moment, her life would never be the same.

**A/N: AHHHHHHHH! Who liked it, eh, eh? I would love it if all of you commented, but before you do, have this in mind: At first I had it where it was during what was supposed to be the Golden Trio's seventh year, leaving Hermione behind, but (since I know who the phantom is) I knew it wouldn't work out, and I wanted there to be a reason for this new ghost on the grounds. I didn't want Hermione to sing until the end because, in all reality, it would be weird, and I only let the Phantom sing the words "Phantom of the Opera" because it would also sound weird if he sang "The Phantom of Hogwarts." And yes, being a crossover, I may or may not make changes to how things happen (or take a few minor things out) so don't bite my head off! And yes, every review counts!**


	2. Morning

Hermione's hunch was right: It was in fact the chamber of secrets. Miles under the school, possibly even under the lake now. Giant stone statues of serpents lined the cold passageway that echoed with each step Hermione and the Phantom took. The statues must have been double the size of Hermione, and looked more menacing and dangerous than the stranger who had led her here. At the very end of the chamber, there was the enormous face of none other than Salazar Slytherin, immortalized in stone. The Basilisk skeleton was still in the same spot, untouched from when she and Ron had been there last.

However, when the passageway hit the face of Slytherin, it broke in half into two other passageways. Hundreds, possibly thousands of candles were scattered all about, lighting up the enormous chamber. There was a large, circular bed in the form of a peacock. Books and drawings were spread out, and on a table in the far right corner there was a diorama of the whole school. The Phantom had done the whole outside and had started on the inside, as Hermione observed. A gargantuan organ sat proudly by the mouth of Slytherin. Drapes and curtains covered some of the walls, although she had no idea why.

"This place…it's beautiful." She exhaled

"A beautiful dwelling for a beautiful angel." The mask over the Phantom's face once again muffled the sound of his unknown voice. It sounded like someone trying to whisper with gauze pressed up to their mouth, and all of his words sounded like they were accented with a "c". The Phantom saw Hermione curiously look around at the chamber, and he took that opportunity to switch masks to a skull that covered his whole face from the top of his mouth and up. She was relieved, because she didn't feel as safe with the other mask on.

There was a pregnant pause before Hermione spoke. "Why have you brought me here, to the Chamber of Secrets?"

"I have brought you to the seat of sweet music's throne." He explained "To this kingdom where all must pay homage to music. Music. You have come here, for one purpose, and one alone. Since the moment I first heard you sing, I have needed you with me, to serve me, to sing, for my music ...my music ..." He nodded.

"Night-time sharpens, heightens each sensation. Darkness stirs and wakes imagination. Silently the senses abandon their defenses." His finger beckoned her to come closer, and like a beggar to food, she did. "Slowly, gently night unfurls its splendor. Grasp it; sense it - tremulous and tender." The Phantom turned her face back to his from her wandering gaze. "Turn your face away from the garish light of day,  
>turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light - and listen to the music of the night. Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams! Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before! Close your eyes let your spirit start to soar!" The witch obediently closed her eyes as she heard him sing the highest note a boy could ever sing. "And you'll live as you've never lived before." He took her right and left hands in his and put one on her hip and the other on her neck. He lead her across the fabric and skin, not wanting to taint it with his own hands, but virtually touching her with her own hands. "Softly, deftly, music shall caress you. Feel it, hear it, closing in around you. Open up your mind; let your fantasies unwind,<br>in this darkness which you know you cannot fight, the darkness of the music of the night. Let your mind start a journey through a strange, new world! Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before! Let your soul take you where you long to be! Only then can you belong to me…Floating, falling, sweet intoxication! Touch me, trust me, savor each sensation! Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in to the power of the music that I write - the power of the music of the night!" Suddenly, out of exhaustion, Hermione fainted into the Phantom's arms and he carried her over to his peacock bed. "You alone can make my song take flight," He ran his finger across her jaw and then pulled the string that let down his sheets "Help me make the music of the night…"

/

/

/

Even without opening her eye's Hermione could feel that there was something wrong with where she was. The air was too cold, the bed was too soft and silky, and she wasn't wearing her usual pajamas. She sat up quickly and finally opened her eyes to test if her theory was right.

"It hadn't been a dream?" Hermione muttered to herself. She ran her fingers through her hair as she felt her heart quicken and adrenaline pump through her veins at the memory of the previous night. Strangely, she did not see the Phantom from where she was. "I remember there was mist, swirling mist upon a vast glossy lake," she tried with a song. "There were candles all around and I on the lake there was a boat," she stepped out into the passageway to further look for the Phantom "And in the boat there was a man-" She felt cold breath brush up against the nape of her neck, and found the Phantom to have appeared behind her from his hiding place. "Who was that shape in the shadows? Who's is that face in the mask?"

She caressed his mask, running her fingers over the deep curls and twists of the engraved design. His eyes closed with surrender to wanting. No one had ever touched him since Merlin knows when, or made him feel so outstanding. He got too wrapped up in his emotions and before it registered in his mind what she was doing, the witch had tucked her fingers into his mask and pulled it away.

"Damn you!" His rough voice came out, his hands trying to cover his face. "You little prying Pandora! You little demon! Is this what you wanted to see?" Hermione was trembling at the outburst, but even so she saw his reflection in a puddle on the corridor's floor. It looked almost exactly like-_no, it couldn't be. How could it be him? He's dead…_She thought. "Curse you!" He started up again, the scraps of his visible face red with rage and spit flying out of his mouth. "You little lying Delilah! You little viper! Now you cannot ever be free! Damn you…Curse you…" he started to cool down to Hermione's relief.

As a request for forgiveness, she picked up the cold, silver mask and handed it to the Phantom. Seeing him like this, although only having known him from the walk down the corridor to her fainting-possibly fifteen minutes-she felt her heart breaking at this Phantom's cries. She had already found space in her guarded heart for this unknown ghost, phantom, person, as someone who needed to be cared for.

When the Phantom put the mask back on, it felt like he was being given his ego and personality back. Like he had been robbed of his life savings but he had been repaid. After lingering on the floor for a few moments, he stood back up and looked at the shaken Hermione.

"Come, we must return. Those idiots who run my school will be missing you."

/

/

/

"Professor Flitwick," Ron charged through the great hall late Saturday morning with Harry quickly behind him "Where is Hermione?"

"Shh, shh shh!" He gestured his hands down furiously "Mr. Weasley, you must understand I am as concerned as you are-"

"If you were then you would have found her!"

"-but if the students found out that Miss Granger has gone missing, imagine what kind of panic we would have on our hands! I assure you that we have informed all of the ghosts, all of the knights, and the paintings to tell us anything they can about her disappearance! She is a joy to everyone she knows, but she'll have to turn up sooner or later. Maybe she went for a walk?"

"And didn't come back for twelve hours?" Harry pointed out

"Oh! Don't you have autographs to sign? Or dark wizards to defeat?" Flitwick was getting rather flustered

"Hermione is more important! And where the hell is McGonagall at a time like this?" They took note of her absence from the table.

"All that anyone cares about is that stupid little egghead who can't sing a proper note if her life depended on it! Why is she so important?" Carla Butterbaum came forward.

Ron snorted "And you think you are? Who in the hell are you anyway?"

"Carla Butterbaum, the one your little know-it-all of a girlfriend replaced." She huffed angrily

"Miss Butterbaum, you left." Flitwick reminded her

"I was ASSAULTED! I'm just happy that it was her and not me who got kidnapped and is probably dead right now."

Harry and a couple other students had to hold Ron back from lunging at the girl. He had never thought about acting violence or harsh words upon a lady, but Carla Butterbaum, he found, was no lady. She walked away, trying to move her ass back and forth to somehow seduce the boys who were wrapped up in their food and conversations.

"Miss Granger has returned." McGonagall entered the Great Hall

"What? Really?" Harry's face broke into a smile and he rushed towards the entrance of the great hall

"Can we see her?" Ron asked frantically, checking to make sure Hermione wasn't hiding behind McGonagall

"No Mister Weasley, she will see no one." She assured with a firm hand

"Will she sing? Will she sing?" Carla curtly popped in

"I thought it best she was alone-" McGonagall changed the subject

"She needed rest." Luna came out from behind one of the large doors in a pirouette. As Minerva walked out, Ron trailing behind

"When can I see her?" Ron pried, talking intimately at McGonagall. He believed that McGonagall understood his urgency.

"Give her a couple of hours, at least." She replied in the same intimacy

"Professor, you know that I keep my word, and my mouth shut." Ron stated, making Minerva feel uneasy. "Please, I beg of you, tell me what happened to my girlfriend?"

The old woman took a couple seconds to scrape up the perfect words to say, trying not to say too much while trying not to hurt the boy. "I'm sorry Weasley, but I just can't tell you. It's up to my discretion, and I know that I can trust you, but even if somehow the situation was overheard or found out, the students would be sent home, and Hogwarts would be a mess. I'm truly sorry, Ronald." Hearing his name made Ron look up from the ground in surprise. She had never called him that, and Ron believed that she never would have. "It's far too dangerous

"DANGEROUS!" Ron croaked "What the bloody hell do you mean dangerous!"

"Mister Weasley lower your voice this instance or so help me-"

"You'll what?" He fired back. "Expel me? Give me detention? Have the same thing done to my girlfriend to me? I have a right to know what happened to her, where she was, why she was there, if she was there by choice, and how long. I guess you wouldn't understand." His voice took a higher pitch. "You haven't loved anyone in over twenty years."

/

/

/

Hermione lie shaking in her bed. McGonagall had given her extra blankets, but she felt like she was layered with ice. She felt like she had been a witness to murder, the dead brought back to life.

When she was with him, she felt mystified and enchanted to believe that he was an angel who wouldn't ever hurt her or bring harm. But after she was left in the bathroom, not even remembering how she got back or how long she had been lying there; but was especially interested as to how McGonagall found her. She didn't know how many people went into that bathroom at seven in the morning, or in general.

Even though she barely blinked, she dreamt about what she had seen down there. It was a gothic paradise, beautiful but chilling. She dreamt about Him. Though his mask made her body become petrified, there was something that felt protective and seductive about it, not knowing who he was. Although, she knew that she saw some scraps of his face when he had bent over, even as the long hood built a deep shadow over it. She saw an eye, grey and icy. She had only known one person to have that color of an eye, but the thought of that person had to make her sit up and shake her head free of the thought. She brushed away her buttery tan locks and tried to focus on something else. She looked out the window, trying to imagine what reviews she hadn't heard yet about the performance last night.

There was a very sharp and panicked knocking on her door. She was afraid of it being Him. What if he had figured out where she was? What if he had come to take her again? She heard another three knocks which startled her and made her get up out of bed, not caring if she was wearing only her tank top and pajama shorts. She had her wand at the ready, tight enough in her hand that it could snap. With a shaking hand she slowly turned the gold knob, prepared to strike with every spell she could conjure. She whipped open the door and raised her wand threateningly with one swift motion.

"Hermione, Hermione! Whoa! What the bloody hell are you doing?" Ron said startled with his hands in the air with surrender.

"Ron?" She lowered her wand slowly before finally throwing it on the ground and flinging herself at Ron, draping herself over him. She felt like it was the first time seeing him after a hundred years, like he could protect her. When she felt something wet on her cleavage, she thought that Ron had drooled all over her, but as she pulled away from the spot on the hollow of his neck where she had nuzzled in, she heard him exhaling choppy breaths and tears falling upon her.

"I love you so much…" He promised before kissing her lips

**A/N: I'm not going to lie and make excuses for why I haven't written. The closest I could say is that I couldn't really think of anything, but I felt terrible either way. I'm working on Love and Sex and Magic, but I hope this never happens again. **

**If I get 10 REVIEWS I will post again in less than a week. I honestly like every comment, even if it was "i liked it" or "that was terrible" because each one counts, and I write these for YOU!**


	3. The Miracle of Touch

Hermione was sitting in the Great Hall Sunday morning with Ginny and Luna obediently at her side. She played with her eggs, pretending to be interested in them. Ginny only ate some of her food, still a bit shaken of Hermione's "abduction" herself. Luna, unfazed by it all, had already eaten two pieces of toast and a sausage.

"Everyone's staring…" Hermione moaned, finally putting down her silverware.

"Well, not _everyone_…" Ginny tried to make the situation better. "That little boy over there? He just glanced." She joked. "You don't even know why they're staring, Hermione. Maybe they finally noticed your stunning features, or they just can't believe that you were so good onstage Friday. You really did do a fantastic job. The crowd was roaring!"

"Or maybe it's because they know the truth of the Phantom…" Luna's words made Hermione shudder. "Ouch!" She cried, as Ginny jabbed her in the side with her elbow.

"Do you want to walk around by the lake?" Ginny offered, trying to say something happy.

"No, I've got lots of homework and studying to do. I hear it's going to rain anyway."

"Oh, okay." Ginny seemed disappointed. "Well, maybe later in the week then?"

Hermione nodded, said her goodbye's to her friends, and went back up to her dormitory. She felt like she was being watched as she went down one of the less populated hallways by the Gryffindor common room. She could see the fat lady was sleeping again-so it was someone else watching her.

"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" A familiar voice floated in the air.

Hermione knew that voice. It sounded like George, although she couldn't imagine why he'd be here. He had the shop to run after all, and she didn't see why they would let him in anyway. Besides, why would he be visiting her anyway? Ron had already taken care of her and warned everyone that he would kill even a mouse if it touched her.

The witch whipped around on her heel to look behind her, but found nothing. "Up here!" The voice said again. She tilted her head upwards and started to beam and cry at the same time.

"Fred!" She cried. He lowered his ghostly body down to his old height. There was a stab of depression when she reached out to hug him but went straight through him. "Why didn't you tell me sooner that you were a ghost here? Oh, wait until I tell Ginny!" She turned to run back and tell her friend, but Fred whisked in front of her.

"You can't tell Ginny."

"Why not?" She laughed like he had said something stupid

"Imagine what would happen. She would become attached again, and the rest of the family would become jealous that she could still see me but no one else could. And when she graduates she'll be heartbroken." He made very good points. "I would have talked to you sooner, but you're always with Ginny. I couldn't hurt her like that."

"I promise I won't tell her."

"Thank you, Granger." He smiled. He reached out his hand, trying to focus energy on it. He tried to brush his index finger against her cheek, but once again failed. His face melted into a frown. "I miss it so much."

"What?"

"Being human."

/

/

/

She felt guarded in her room, with her nice warm bed for extra protection. She raised the covers all the way over her chin, hoping that the warmth would help sleep find her sooner. She closed her eyes for a couple of minutes, and started to rub her shoulder against another pillow, it being against the wall like her bed, imagining it was Ron.

Hermione was a very observant person, and even thought about her own brain. She had noticed over the years that sometimes her brain separated from herself, and did whatever it pleased when she was trying to dream. This was one of those instances.

Before she knew it, she was imagining the Phantom holding her and kissing her on her neck. He ran his hands all over her body; in places she wished Ron would have touched her sometimes. His kisses went to her chest, even making her eyes close in the dream. He finally kissed her lips, and she did not protest. She once again curled her fingers under the mask and tore it off, satisfied that he had not screamed at her or tried to strike her. But she was anything but satisfied. The face was barely visible. It was like there was a fog over it, her brain was trying to tell her that she knew the person, but until she found out for herself it would be only this.

Her eyes flew open as her body rudely awakened her. There was a thin sheen of sweat on her body from the mixture of excitement and the heavy covers. She brought herself out of her bed and felt a rush of adrenaline as she stormed out of her room and trotted down the stairways that finally led her to the girl's lavatory. She threw open the door and inspected each one of the sinks until she found what she was looking for.

She twisted the knob of the faucet with the snake on its body. There was no water running out of it, maybe because it didn't work or because it hadn't been used since Myrtle's death, but all that she knew was that this would lead her back down to the depths and to the answer of who he was. She needed to know, and she needed to know now.

/

/

/

She took a cautious step, which echoed throughout the whole passageway. The witch who had been called the smartest to set foot on Hogwarts hadn't been smart enough to change out of her jeans and t-shirt-or even put on shoes. She shivered at the cold, wrapping her arms around herself in an effort to get warmer. She just got colder the farther she went. It was a terrible journey. It must have taken a half an hour to get down there with no guide, while she was trying to be quiet and not slip. It was a real tunnel than could have been mistaken for a very weird slide. Her feet were killing her.

She approached the big safe-like door, trying to remember what Ron had said to get in. It was something in Parseltongue. She opened her mouth, and let her memory speak for her. Whatever she said was right, because the silvery snake slide out and opened the door.

Nothing had changed from how it was from Friday. She was surprised at how clean the Phantom was, thought she didn't think that papers and music scattered about could be considered dirty. The only sound in his dwelling was the drip drop of water droplets forming pools on the cold floor. The floor seemed like ice to her naked feet.

As she came to the mouth of Slytherin, she looked to her left and found him sleeping in his bed. It looked so inviting, even more inviting as she found that the whole left side of the bed was free. Maybe he felt the same as her, imagining someone sleeping beside him. Hermione suppressed a laugh as she saw that he slept in a mask, his full silver death eater one at that.

She felt no fear as she climbed in beside him, curling only inches away from him. She let his warmth go through her, starting to recover from the trip down. She tried not to wake him as the mattress shifted and changed for her weight, but she could feel him stir. Even as her eyes closed, she could sense his eyes open and look into hers.

"Why don't you tell me who you are?" She whispered, daring to open her eyes and look at his mask.

"Because then you wouldn't love me anymore…and I couldn't bear you hating me more than you already did." He said regrettably.

"How are you so sure I love you?" She teased. Hermione didn't know what made her say it; she knew that even though she shouldn't have, she had an unconditional love for this creature of the night. "And you said I already knew you?"

"You're right…" He studied the gentle curve of her rosy pink lips. "Maybe I should prove it?"

"You can't," She stopped him, her conscience telling her that she came down here to find out who was behind the mask. "Unless you take off the mask. I can't even see your lips." She pointed out.

The Phantom felt flustered, not knowing what to do. He didn't want to get out of the bed, knowing that if he switched out of the mask there was a possibility she would recognize his hair, and that it wouldn't be the same if he appeared in the bed again and tried to kiss her. It would ruin the moment. And he couldn't let himself show her who he was. He didn't want to lose her.

Hermione, confused as to why he didn't move, broke the silence asking "Why can't you just show me who you are? You could be the devil with the ugliest face on the planet, but I wouldn't care. You are beautiful to me, and I haven't seen your face. I would never judge you or hold anything against you."

He knew that the words she said were true, and that she somehow loved him without even having exchanged a hundred words in the past three days. He wanted to tell her everything, and make her understand why he was down there, why she would hate him, why he loved her, but in that he would have to reveal who he was to make her _truly_ understand.

"I can't…I just can't Hermione…" He felt like he was on the verge of tears.

/

/

/

Ginny Weasley didn't feel safe, she hadn't heard from Hermione since breakfast, and it was noon. She knocked on her door three times, and heard no answer. She went to ask Luna if she had seen Hermione, and she hadn't. She tried her dorm again but it was useless. As she went down the hallways looking for her, she asked people if they had seen her and what way she had went. One third year Hufflepuff said that she had gone to the second floor ladies lavatory.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked, feeling like a mouse as she opened the door. She hadn't been in that bathroom since her first year-the memories that flooded into her mind made a cold streak climb up her back. "Hermione?" She tried again.

"Ginny Weasley, isn't it?" Moaning Myrtle said from behind her.

"Yes." She nodded.

"You're the one who opened up the Chamber of Secrets and threw that diary at me, weren't you!" She accused

"Myrtle, I wasn't in my right mind when that happened,"

"Excuses, excuses! I don't want to hear them, if that's what you're here for!"

"I'm actually looking for my friend, Hermione Granger?"

"Oh, that pretty girl?" Myrtle said surprisingly. "You still know the way, don't you?"

"Know the way to what?" Ginny asked innocently

"Don't tell me you've forgotten? After what had happened I was sure that you'd remember how to get into the Chamber of Secrets!"

"Is that where Hermione is?"

"I don't know for sure, but I overheard that this is where Hermione vanished to on Friday, and the Chamber of Secrets is in this bathroom, isn't it?"

"Thank you, Myrtle." She said truthfully before Myrtle vanished into her favorite toilet.

Ginny hated what she was doing. She thought that if maybe she closed her eyes, it would be better. She closed them, and her body found the faucet and turned it to open the chamber. She dreaded going down, but she had to.

/

/

/

"How did you know my name?" She asked gently, trying to make him feel more at ease.

"Everyone knows of the great Hermione Granger, don't they?" His lips curved up behind the mask

"Are you a real Death Eater?" Hermione started to trace the mask's designs with her fingers. Even though the mask was not his face, he could feel her warmth on his cheeks and forehead as she ran her fingers over the mask. "Or did you just steal this mask?"

"You could say that I was a Death Eater…" he hinted. "I was, let's say, born into being one, although I didn't have a real allegiance and I didn't fight in the war."

"Is the mark on your arm?" She asked.

Lifting up his arm, he thought, was not going to give away who he was. There were many people that had pale skin around here. His gloved hand lifted up his sleeve to reveal his forearm, bearing the Dark Mark. It had started to fade, he hoped that one day it would be reduced to only a scar, or nothing at all.

Hermione felt the Dark Mark as well, always curious of how it would feel. Did it feel like normal skin? Like a tattoo? Like a branding? It felt like someone had engraved into the Phantom's arm. After she had experimented with the rest of his skin on that forearm, she concluded that because of the Dark Magic in his Dark Mark, it was considerably warmer in that spot.

The Phantom wanted to just turn into a puddle when he felt Hermione touching his skin-his real skin. He wanted to lie there for hours, just letting her touch him. It was like heaven was giving him a sneak preview of what it was like.

The witch took the Phantom's gloved hand and pressed it up to her cheek, letting him feel her softness. She heard him sigh, like he had gotten the best fix in the world. When she took his hand off of her cheek, he felt like he was a child being given a teddy bear just to have it snatched away. Her intentions were better than he expected. Finger by finger, she started to remove his glove. Just by his hand, she could tell he was very young, maybe even as old as her. She pressed his hand up to her face again and absorbed his coolness.

"Please," she begged with her eyes still closed. "Just take off the mask so I can touch you…so I can kiss you?" She tried reasoning with him for the last time. "You can even cover my eyes." He was surprised at her perseverance to get off that stupid mask. "Just let me feel you."

"Promise not to open your eyes?"

"Yes, like I said, you can even cover them." She sighed with relief.

Hermione saw him place one hand over the mask and the other over her eyes so not even the smallest bit of light could be seen through them. She could feel him inch closer, his hot breath brushing up against her cheeks. She started to lean in as well, not being able to bear his sluggish pace. She had just about slid her bottom lip between his when she heard the most terrible sound she could hear at the moment:

"Hermione!" Ginny's voice shrieked.

"For Merlin's sake!" She whipped her head around so fast she couldn't even see the slightest of the Phantom's face.

The Phantom quickly crushed the mask back onto his face and pulled his hooded cloak farther down on his face. As Ginny screamed at him "If you ever touch her again, I'll kill you!" she started to drag Hermione back up to the main of the castle.


	4. Secrets Revealed

"What were you thinking?" Ginny dragged Hermione painfully uphill. "Oh wait-YOU WEREN'T!"

"I had to know who he was!" Hermione tried to explain frantically.

"Who cares who the hell he is? He abducted you! TWO TIMES! And I'm going straight to McGonagall and letting her-"

"No!" Hermione stopped walking and wriggled free of Ginny's fierce grasp. "If you tell headmistress I swear that I will never speak to you again and everyone will finally know about the girl seven years ago who opened the Chamber of Secrets!"

Tears started to sing the corners of Ginny's eyes. She had never stopped hating herself for what had happened so many years ago. It haunted her in her nightmares, and she hadn't gone back to that cursed bathroom ever since.

"If you end up dead, don't expect to see me at your funeral!" She warned before running back crying uncontrollably.

Hermione didn't know what had made her lash out at Ginny like that. She felt overly protective about her Phantom. She felt a stronger needing for him, a stronger connection even. The thought of someone interrupting or tearing away that connection with him was too much for her to bear.

Guilt hit her like a semi-truck when Ron popped into her head. She was supposed to love him, the boy she knew from her very first day and fought beside her in the war. She felt that wanting to kiss, see, or even think about the Phantom was betraying him. Her mind quickly switched back to how it had been that Saturday. She started to fear the Phantom once again.

Her heart had separated from herself, and it ached. Hermione just shrugged it off, trying to think of Ron. Her heart didn't flutter anymore when she thought of Ron, but the thought of the Phantom made it soar. She was torn between right and wrong. Good and bad. She didn't know what she wanted anymore.

/

The tension at the next morning's breakfast table was considerably thick. Luna had seen less tension between Draco and Harry before. She sat between Hermione and Ginny, informing both of them that no matter what they were fighting about and if they chose to make up, she would not choose sides until then.

A squawk was heard in the distance, and was quickly followed by more, a very unusual cacophony of mail calls that morning.

"I wonder if Daddums has written me back yet…I wrote him a long paged story I thought should be published in the Quibbler…" Luna mumbled to herself.

An owl, she couldn't remember what kind at the moment, had landed right in front of her and let a letter drop from its beak. It stood there, looking at her expectantly.

"Oh right," Hermione searched in her bag for a biscuit that she gave to the owl as payment. "Thank you." She said as the owl nodded and flew away. "Sometimes I forget that Hedwig isn't with us anymore…" Hermione sighed, picking up the envelope. It was from Harry.

_Dear Hermione,_

_Just writing to make sure you're okay. What happened Friday night probably gave you a bit of a scare, I'm guessing. _

_Work is going just fine. Whenever Ron decides to come in we get a load more of wizards. He can run really fast if he needs to, and we never get a rest. But we're not complaining, or at least I'm not. I don't think that there's a day that goes by that I don't miss Hogwarts and all of you there._

_I hear that Neville has gone to France to study some herbs there. One day he'll become a professor, I just know it. You never told us what you wanted to be. I always wondered. It's just so amazing that you could have any job, literally any in the wizarding or non-wizarding world but you haven't picked one yet. By the way, if you ever want to become an Auror, you know where to find me._

_Ginny is worried about you. She says that you are different, distant all of the time. Numb, even. You're always distracted and she says that you two share a secret that she cannot tell me, but she doesn't know what to do anymore. Hermione, please tell me what's going on. You don't have to tell Ron, just me. This is not the girl I know. You're starting to worry the both of us. Please, write me back._

_Love,_

_Harry_

She slammed the letter down on the table furiously and shot an evil look at Ginny. "You told him? You can't ever keep your big mouth shut?" She felt betrayed by her own best friend.

"You couldn't just be loyal to my brother?" Ginny fired back.

"Loyal? What do you mean loyal? I did nothing to be un-loyal!" Hermione felt like pulling her curly locks of auburn hair straight out of her scalp.

"So it wasn't you who went searching for him?" Ginny and Hermione had attracted an audience of the whole student body. "It wasn't you leaning in to kiss him?"

Hermione felt her face burn and her cheeks flush with color. She wanted to lunge towards Ginny and rip out every single hair on her body one by one. She wanted to use every hex she had ever learned on her. She wanted to see her suffer. She could hear the whispers of students asking "Looking for who?" "kissing who?" "she's cheating on Ron?" and a couple students confirming "The Phantom!" which sprouted more questions. With one swift sentence Ginny had managed to inform the whole school of her and the Phantom.

/

About a week had passed without Hermione talking to Ginny. She didn't understand how Luna hadn't gone mad, or more than she already was, with their silence towards the other. Only glares were given to each other, not even a whisper of a word.

She hadn't heard anything from Ron either.

The other students looked at her differently now. Not like how they did after she had performed in the musical, but like she was Harry during their fourth year. It was like she had some invisible force telling everyone to stay away from her.

The Phantom invaded her dreams nightly, whether or not she wanted him to. Hermione found herself hating him sometimes, but then again she loved him. She wanted to see him again.

It was very cold at two in the morning on a Saturday. She doubted that anyone, even Filch, would be awake to get her in trouble for being out of bed after hours. Her slippers padded along the stairs and the corridors as she just wandered the halls, thinking and searching.

She eventually dared to go out into the courtyard. It never felt quite the same to her after the War, seeing as Lord Voldemort had once stood there with all of his Death Eaters.

The word "Death Eater" sparked and ignited a thought in her brain. The Phantom said that he was born into being a Death Eater but he hadn't fought in the War. But he bore the Dark Mark. How could he have been honored with the Dark Mark but not have fought in the War? He also said that she had known him, and that she had hated him. She couldn't remember specifically hating someone, although she greatly disliked most of her classmates for always making fun of her intelligence. The only reason she would hate someone was if they had hurt her or her friends. The only person who had done that was-

"No." Hermione shook her head as she whispered aimlessly to the night sky. "It can't be him. That's impossible. He was killed."

The young witch tried to ignore her brain and her gut, telling her that it had to be him, and there was only one way to find out. She felt angry-no-FURIOUS. How could this have happened? Why was he still alive? How? Why was he here? Why did he want her? All of these thoughts ran through her head as she charged back into the bathroom.

"Back again, are w-"

"Bugger off, Myrtle." Hermione said annoyed, not even stopping to look at Myrtle as she stormed over to the sink and turned the knob.

The portal down to the Chamber once again opened and she practically slid down the tunnel she was so angry. She felt even more enraged when she tried to speak the Parseltongue to the door and it wouldn't open. Whoever had been hiding him had changed the password to get in, although she didn't know how since Tom Riddle had made it. She scavenged her brain as to any hints to what it may have been, although she knew it was hopeless. Her eyes wandered as she thought and landed on a layer of gunk that was surrounding the ladder up to the door. It read: "Carpa Carpa Diyene Wehy".

"Carpa Carpa Diyene Wehy?" She tried out on the door. The snake, thank Merlin, slid out once again and unlocked the door for her. It swung open and let her in.

Hermione wished that she could storm in there the same way that she had into the bathroom, but she needed the element of surprise and stomping her feet on the concrete would most definitely wake up the Phantom.

She slowly approached the bed where the Phantom slept, and in what seemed to be less than a second ripped off his mask and gasped, immediately waking up the Phantom, who was no longer going to register as the Phantom in her mind.

"I knew it!" She shrieked. She felt like she had been betrayed for the second time.

"Hermione, I can explain!" He sounded like he had been caught with another woman.

Big fat tears rolled down her cheeks. The last time she had cried this much was when Harry had died. Her heart felt like it was going to explode, although she was sure that he had already torn it out from her chest. Her throat seemed to close up, her legs buckled like she had been hit with the Jelly-legs Jinx. He came to help her up but she only pushed him away.

"Don't touch me!"

"I told you that this would happen! That's why I wore the mask!" He pleaded with her when she finally let him hold her. "I didn't want anything to change. I would rather have lived the rest of my miserable life down here with a mask always on my face than have you figured out who I was."

/

**A/N: HAHA CLIFFHANGER! I love torturing you! MWUAHAHAHAHA! You wanna know who it is? READ THE NEXT CHAPTER!**

**But down to business: The traffic and comments for this story have been unacceptably low, and if they keep on dropping, I'll drop the story. Dems the rules. I'm not going to waste my time on a story that no one reads. **

**Secondly, I'm putting up a poll on my profile page (/~vampteeth97) that I want everyone to take part in. It regards this story and how the plot is going to go on, because there are two ways it can go, and I don't know which road I should take…:X **

**Also, if you ever have any questions or requests, I will always read comments and my tumblr page is .com and you just have to click my ask box. **


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